We take you to Mr. Caton's 8th grade Physical Science class at CSCS to examine the so-called Faraday Forever flashlight. The topic... the 18th century English physicist, Michael Faraday who discovered that when a magnet slides back and forth between copper spools, an electric current is created. Instructor Mike Caton says, "So the more you shake it, the more electricity you build up and store in the capacitor and then when you want to use it, you just press the button and you have a flashlight." The students learned firsthand... Faraday's flashlight isn't a fluke... it indeed works without batteries or bulbs. It's usefulness is backed by textbooks and years of scientific studies. Student John Glisan says, "You don't have to keep on buying batteries for the flashlights so you can save money on that." Glisan's right we found you definitely can save money with the Faraday flashlight which doesn't require a pair of D batteries. But these students wanted to know how the led compared to the regular flashlight which uses an incandescent bulb. Student Janessa Blythe says, "In a pinch it would be a good thing, like say we had a citywide blackout and we don't have batteries." One set of students after another compared the two types of flashlights and it was no contest. The Faraday flashlight isn't as bright as the regular flashlight. Student Peter Huguenin says, "I would use these mainly, but I would have those as back ups because if I lost a battery I would want something else." In conclusion students decided you could have both... storing them at home, in your car, a boat or an RV. Caton asks the students... "Which one of them do you think from an environmental standpoint and landfills would be better?" They answer by singing..."Shake, shake, shake.... shake, shake, shake... shake your flashlight... shake your flashlight!"

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